First off, personal attacks only cheapen the argument, but at least we expected this seeing what Mr. Barrett has spouted off before. Recent polls? Produce them.

Rock on Kevin Barrett! We need more people to stand up for FINDING THE TRUTH, whatever that truth is. I hate how nobody seems to care about even the possibility that the “official” 9/11 story might not be entirely accurate.

Peace

Mr. Barret is certainly welcome to his views just as anyone should be. The whole point is that the western (and a major portion of the non-Islamic) world allows active journalism that doesn’t say no to contrary views. But as far as Islam is concerned nothing contrary to what is espoused in Koran (and a thousand interpretations of it), is acceptable. No sir, it is not acceptable irrespective of whether it comes from a Muslim or not. To my knowledge no other religion or persons following no other religion have such a rigid stance. This is what is wrong with Islam and its followers especially the conservatives. I think any study of Islam should include this rigidity and the political activism that Islam sees now. It is foolish to compare it with other religions since no other religions is so deeply ensconsed in politics as Islam is now.

My tuppence worth of words.

Being a current UW Alum living in a Middle Eastern country (Egypt as it were), I have to say that you Mr Barrett are way off in your understanding about the 9/11 conspiracy theories in the Middle East, in which by far the most popular one is that Israel committed the attacks. Do you also purport to show this theory in your course? A how about the theory that Al Qaida does not exist. Why don’t we tell this to the thousands upon thousands of Afghanis that both support and oppose Al Qaida in Afghanistan that have both been the subject of attacks and involved in said attacks. Nothing frustrates ex pats like me and regular Egyptians more than people that sprout off absurd comments about the Middle East while they live in their little cubicle in the United States. If you would like to know more about the Middle East Mr Barrett, I cordially invited you to come to Egypt to begin to learn about it.

“A recent New York Times poll showed that only 16 percent of the American people believe the official [9/11] story, meaning that 84 percent do not.”

This is completely and utterly false and I hate how so many people (Bill O'Reilly does this on his Factor show ALL THE TIME) imply otherwise. If the poll showed that 16 percent DO believe the official story, that does NOT mean 84 percent do not — what about those who are undecided or did not respond? Besides that, if the question were phrased: “Do you believe the official government story about the 9/11 attacks?” and 16 percent said yes, that does NOT automatically mean a correlation exists and that 84 percent of the same sample would say yes when asked “Do you believe the government had a hand in perpetrating the 9/11 attacks?”

Such statistical assumptions are WRONG on multiple levels and do not take into account these possibilities. Making the opposite argument in such cases is misleading and only used to shore up otherwise shaky arguments. That being said, while the personal attacks are unjustified and unprofessional, they’re still entertaining and correct: Jeff Carnes is a terrible writer in the grammatical sense. But the grammar police haven’t been called in, yet.

I agree with anonymous at 1:12pm — refusing to acknowledge even the REMOTE possibility that our government is lying or not telling the whole truth about some facets involving 9/11 is naive and delusional. Some of the facts of the matter are disturbingly strange…for instance:

If the Pentagon was hit with a plane, and the government knows about all the controversy surrounding it (some believe it was a cruise missile), why not release to the public the MANY other, better videotapes that exist of the crash? There was a surveillance camera at a gas station across the highway, one at the Sheraton Hotel in the same area, etc. — all pointed in the right place at the right time. Owners of BOTH establishments (and many others) were sworn to secrecy by government officials after viewing the tapes and having them be quickly confiscated a few days after 9/11. They have yet to resurface. Why, then, release only 6 or so frames of a “plane” that you cannot see in the “video” officially released? Why not put the conspiracy theories to rest by releasing the full tapes? What intelligence or military value could they possibly have now, over 5 years later? And do Pentagon officials HONESTLY want us to believe that one of our nation’s most important and heavily guarded buildings (the Pentagon) had only ONE security camera turned on and facing the right position to catch the crash of the “plane?” Come ON. Stop being so naive people, and THINK about what you read and see.

This is but one example of “shaky” parts of the official 9/11 story. Most of the conspiracy theories, I agree, are pure fictional garbage. But there are still questions to be fully answered and facts to be uncovered. At least Professor Barrett is seeking those answers, however controversially and misguidedly.

Will someone teach Barret how to use “sic” in writing?

Hmmm… Maybe next semester Barrett will teach a conspiracy class about how the Badger Herald is the mouth piece of a giant sinister right-wing brotherhood led by Dr. Evil. Get over yourself Barrett. People don’t care about your ridiculous ideas; the issue is you’re getting paid to teach them.

It is humbling knowing that 20 guys with knives can kill three thousand people. It shocked our country. Many conspiracy theories are in response to an extraordinary phenomenon. The response of some, like Mr. Barrett, is that an extraordinary phenomenon must be caused by some extraordinary means. His dislike for the current administration provides the necessary villain that caused the extraordinary attack.

The problem is that the truth about 9/11 is there for all to see. Mr. Barrett chooses to pay attention to polls and any scrap of information that someone writes in support of his view.

After I examined the Zogby poll that Barrett cites, it was clear that his interpretation was wrong. The poll asked if officials knew attacks were to occur on or around September 11th and failed to act. This is completely different than saying U.S. officials “committed high treason and conspiracy to mass murder on 9/11.”

His tactics and methods are contrary to academic standards. This is where his academic dishonesty is a problem and why he will not be offered a position to teach again at a respectable university. Barrett is not worthy to stand among our great faculty.

-Mr. Pirate

I’d be interested to hear from the Muslim Student Association at UW if they agree with Mr. Barrett’s assertion that “the mainstream Muslim outlook (held by secularists and atheists as well as religious people from Muslim-majority countries) is that the war on terror is phony and that 9/11 was an inside job”.

“Or try substituting "Judaism" for "Buddhism" to get a sense of the implicit bigotry that informs Carnes' outlook on Islam.”

The problem is that none of those substitutes demand that you head be cut off if you disagree with them. That’s not bigotry, just a desire to survive as a free, thinking person.

They don’t blow themselves up with the sole aim of killing innocent women and children either - I’m against that even if it makes me a bigot in your eyes.

If there was a course that taught the truth of Islam’s long war on the rest of the world the result would be rioting, arson and murder by the jihadis all over the world.

Islam will not be fit for civilized company until it can take “art” equivalent to the “Piss Christ” or “Elephant Dung Madonna” without going on a rampage. When a “Piss Muhammed” is exhibited in Mecca without anybody being killed I will believe that Islam is a “Religion of Peace”.

Wow, that’s an unprofessional and acerbic response from someone who’s supposed to be an academic. If you can’t beat ‘em with your reasoning, just dump a bunch of (sic)s into their quotes and pick on their language.

Bravo, Kevin. And bravo to everyone who thinks there’s room for “opinion” on the historical facts about who did what on 9/11.

Does anyone else get the sense that if Al Gore had won the presidency in 2000, that there would be no “9/11 Truth” movement?

Wow, I didn’t know that Osama Bin Laden was just an actor, hired by the US government. I had no idea that the dozens of independent journalists living in Afghanistan and Iraq are actually US CIA agents, producing false reports. It must have been a big job for the US to pay off all the legitimate reporters, hire actors to “fight” in Afghanistan, bribe or blackmail the Pakistani, Afghan, and all the other middle eastern governments to follow the “lie” that Al-Queda doesn’t exist. The US government was a lot more competant than I thought. Funny that they could pull of the biggest conspiracy in history without anyone knowing about it, but yet the Republicans can’t even keep the Foley sex scandal a secret.

Oh, but of course, people did learn the truth. Who? A left wing nut job with a cushy job thousands of miles from the war zone. A bunch of Muslims, whose OPINION is that terrorism doesn’t exist. Hm, what to believe, a group of pissed off muslims who hate the US and would do anything to discredit it, or should I believe the pictures I see on tv and the FRIEND I HAVE IN IRAQ who was injured by a non existant terrorist.

Did Uli hire this guy? Uli, you’re a good guy and a great professor but wtf…

im bored..

This is an absolutely disgusting article, and it shows that there is really no level that is too low for Barrett.

As an aside, how do you have a “clash on civilizations” when one side of the clash is stuck in the 18th century. Civilization indded.

Why isn’t there room for an opinion on the “historical facts”on 9/11?

Some would say that they know for a fact that the sky is blue. The shade can be debated, or if I look outside my window right now I’d say it was gray.

There is ALWAYS room for opinion as long as you are intellectually honest. The old saying that “If you believe the lie then it’s not one.” does not apply here.

If you don’t believe that there is room for opinion then you just gave up your right to free thinking. In fact you can’t even have the opinion you just expressed.

Is there a compilation of soft or hard evidence that indicates a government cover-up of what really happened on 9/11???

• If yes, please provide a list with sources.

• If no, please shut up!

This isn’t really related to Barret’s views on 9/11, but…

The Pope’s quoting of the Byzantine Emperor was brought up four or five times in class, and it took this many times of discussion before Barret conceded that, in fact, some Muslims reacted violently. Most of the time was spent ridiculing the Pope. This shows where he stands. He’d rather poke fun at the Pope for quoting a man that criticized Islam and Mohammed, than comment on members of his own faith gunning down a nun in Mogadishu, blowing up churches in Palestine, and calling for the death of the Pope throughout the world.

Having a different opinon doesn’t change the facts.

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion but the facts are the same for everyone.

Maybe bin Laden is taking credit for the work of evil genius GW Bush, but if Bush is so smart and his support system so clever I don’t understand why his gang can’t seem to get anything else done.

It’s a blatant cold hard fact that Building 7 fell in a controlled demolition.

It looks exactly like a controlled demolition.

It has every single characteristic of a controlled demolition.

Watch for yourself:

9/11 Videos: THE CONTROLLED COLLAPSE OF WTC 7 http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/wtc7.html

Silverstein Answers WTC Building 7 Charges http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/050106silversteinanswers.htm

7 World Trade Center The Mysterious Leveling of Building 7 http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/analysis/wtc7/index.html

His theory is full of holes. There are many sources that have debunked the facts that Barrett alleges. Popular Mechanics is one source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html

Fact, a poll is not a fact. Fact, holding a widely held opinion, no matter how erronous, does not turn it into a indisputable fact. Fact, the opinion of a lay person carries considerably less weight that the opinion of a learned expert. Fact, if as you say, the higest levels of our governments conspired to commit the 9/11 attacks, they would likely have no problem making you disappear as well.

In my opinion, it is there really is no gravity, the Earth just sucks!! You mean I am wrong? Can I bilk cash from the taxpayers because it is my right to persent my opinion as fact? Is that what academic freedom is?

Kevin, it is interesting you present your “facts” (which are made up) to journalists, naive students, and muslims… 2 have a tendancy to believe whatever is presented to them and the other wants it to be the truth…

By the way, does your background give you the ability to understand structural engineering? I would love to see you have a discussion with someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

I guess UW-Madison doesn’t care if their alumni give any donations because i know i sure as hell won’t while this nutjob is still employed.

Here’s a classy recent old school smackdown of Islam called “Who is Allah?” Mmaybe Barrett can use it in class?

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1104/110401.asp?wpc=110401.asp&wpp=a

yawn.

Maybe this should be coverd in class. Horrible facts, in my opinion.

HUNDREDS of young girls in Britain are suffering genital mutilation at the hands of women paid to come to Britain by their families.

The procedure is generally performed by elderly women, in unsterilised conditions with no anaesthetic. Children as young as five have parts or all of their clitoris or labia removed. Some have their vaginas sewn up or the flesh shrunk with corrosives.

Despite the dangers, many African Muslim communities prize the ritual and ostracise women who are not circumcised. It is common in a band stretching from Senegal in West Africa to Somalia on the East coast and in many areas uncircumcised women cannot find a husband.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2416783,00.html

Thank you for publishing this opinion piece. Many people around the world recognize the importance of evaluating the war on terror for what it is: an aggressive act based on the mass deception of the population.

I say let Barrett talk. The more he and his organization open their mouths, the more people see how moronic he is.

The only sad thing is, the WI taxpayers have to support his ideology (I could care less what he thinks or believes in, no matter how misguided, just do NOT teach the crap to our kids and get paid out of our tax money).

I can guarantee if a member of the KKK were to teach a class on a certain ethnic group and were to inject “opinion” with selective “facts” hiding under the umbrella of “academic freedom”, that instructor would be without a job… Why does the state feel that have to pay this guy who is doing the same thing with a different topic?

@12:30pm, someone asked for “a compilation of soft or hard evidence that indicates a government cover-up of what really happened on 9/11”.

OK, I’ll try.

See this list of background info snippets around the “9/11 Commission” below.

It were the victim families who forced the initial 9/11 Commission into existence at all (which then sadly produced more of a cover-up “9/11 Omission Report” than anything else….):

* Colin Powell promised a "white paper" that would establish the guilt of Osama Bin Laden and associates. That never came.
     -->  http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=2004081212004979

* Dick Cheney and George Bush asked Tom Daschle to "limit the scope" of the Congressional Inquiry.
     -->  http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/inv.terror.probe/

* The Congressional Inquiry released a report with 28 redacted pages.
     -->  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/30/world/main565782.shtml

* The family members had to fight "tooth and nail" against the Bush Administration to create a commission to investigate the attacks.
     -->  http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/10/int04053.html

* The Bush Administration appointed Henry Kissinger to lead the Commission. A man known for too many secrets.
     -->  http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=176

* After the families' forced Kissinger's resignation, the Bush Administration appointed Thomas Kean, someone "who will be easily controlled by the administration" to head the Commission.
     -->  http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/13/kissinger.resigns/
     -->  http://www.alternet.org/story/14820/

* The Bush Administration appointed Lee Hamilton to be the co-chair. Hamilton chaired the Iran Contra Congressional Investigation, and "was shown ample evidence against Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, but he did not probe their wrongdoing."
     -->  http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20051128144916707

* The Bush Administration appointed Philip Zelikow to be the Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission. A man who served on the Bush Transition Team. A man who was a good friend of Condoleezza Rice's. A man who is a self described expert at creating "public myths" (had centered his academic research on that very topic).
     -->  http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=57170&postcount=3

* The families submitted well researched questions to the 9/11 Commission in the hopes that they would be answered. The Commission did not even deal with 70% of these questions (and, at best, merely touched on the rest)
     -->  http://www.911independentcommission.org/questions.html

* The families asked for Zelikow's resignation, but were denied.
     -->  http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/zelikowresign.mov

* The 9/11 Commission was underfunded, and had a limited amount of time to conduct their work.
     -->  http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,437267,00.html

* Very few individuals that testified before the 9/11 Commission, did so under oath. In fact, the Vice President, and the President refused to do so. They testified together, not in public, and no recordings were allowed. The families requested the transcripts of their meeting, but were denied.
     -->  http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/29/bush.911.commission/

* The 9/11 Commission turned away whistleblowers with pertinent information.
     -->  http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=653&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

* One whistleblower they were forced to see by the families, Sibel Edmonds, is now the "most gagged person in American History." She testified for 3 hours before the 9/11 Commission and received a footnote in the back of their report.
     -->  http://www.911blogger.com/node/2259
     -->  http://justacitizen.com/KillTheMessenger.html

* The White House vetted each and every chapter of a report that was supposed to be independent, and bi-partisan.
     -->  http://www.911busters.com/video/MOV/CC6_John_Judge_911_Omission_Report.html

* On October 21, 2003, Philip Zelikow, the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, two senior Commission staff members, and a representative of the executive branch, met at Bagram Base, Afghanistan, with three individuals doing intelligence work for the Department of Defense. The work they were doing was in regards to Able Danger. Something that was completely omitted from the 9/11 Report.
     -->  http://www.911blogger.com/node/3121

* A July 10, 2001 meeting that took place between former CIA Director George Tenet and then National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice was completely omitted from the 9/11 Report.
     -->  http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12860

* The CIA Inspector General's report, "CIA Accountability With Respect To The 9/11 Attacks" has not been released to the public.
    -->   https://www.cia.gov/cia/public_affairs/press_release/2005/pr10052005.html

* World Trade Center 7 was not mentioned in the 9/11 Report, even though it was one of the three buildings that collapsed that day. NIST has yet to release a report explaining the collapse of that building.

* Upwards of 5 wargames were taking place on the morning of 9/11. Only one received a footnote in the back of the 9/11 Report.
     -->  http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6405

* Pakistan's involvement in the 9/11 attacks was not even mentioned in the 9/11 Report even though it was one of the questions submitted by the families.
     -->  http://www.911blogger.com/node/2203

* The 9/11 Commission estimated the attack cost 500,000 $US to finance, but thought that following the money behind the 9/11 Attacks was "of little practical significance."
     -->  http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm

Now please do your own research too. The Government very obviously does not want to investigate.

Everybody should support the call of the families for a new and truly independent investigation into 9/11.

(above lists based on the work of Jon Gold, published at http://911blogger.com/node/3988 )

Just what we need. Another Liberal, POLL based arguement that has once again skewed the arguement to try to benefit his theories on instruction. You cite most of the Islamic news (I use this term in the very loosest sense) media portrays the United States as having created 9/11. What a farce. I would like to see you stand your ground on your mutation of the truth against Bill O’Reilly. Got what it takes? Of course not. You need to hide your ilk in the halls of an institution of education trying to propagandize the young and easily influenced. Sound a little like the Hitler Youth? Then again, since people like you say there was never any holocost, what does that really mean? They are just like the Boy Scouts to you. No al-qaeda? No radical Muslims? I have spoken to them personally and you are completely wrong. Tell Eugene Armstrong they don’t exist. Remember him? The guy whose head they cut off for being a truck driver. I believe you should lose your job and visa.

This idiot is an embarassment to our University.

I bet at least 3 of the above posts are from Barrett himself : )

this guy calls himself a professional and has to resort to name calling….you suck Kevin “poopy head” barrett

Kevin Barrett, the mere fact that you are a university professor in no way makes you trustworthy. You’ll need more than conspiracy theory and inspired commentary to win people over. Do some original research and stop quoting others. It’s the only way to earn respect in academia.

Oh, Kevin! My hero!

“Colin Powell promised a “white paper” that would establish the guilt of Osama Bin Laden and associates. That never came.”

OBL has taken “credit” for the attack multiple times, but maybe he just wants credit for the work of evil genius GW Bush. Maybe they are in cahoots?

America's Jews were the victims of 68.5% of 2005's religiously motivated hate-crimes. Even though there are a lot less of us than there are Muslims, we incurred almost 7x more hate-crimes than America's Muslim population in 2005. I am expecting CAIR to send every Jew in America a sympathy card in the very near future.

I’m not saying what I do or don’t believe about the topic or Mr. Barrett. But does everyone really think that teaching a theory in class is the same as spoon-feeding an opinion? A theory presents a view that some people hold. Despite whether you think they’re right for having the view, the fact is they do. For anyone who didn’t take 7th grade science, a theory is just a conjecture until it’s proven. What’s wrong with learning different views that are, whether we like it or not, held by some members of the public being studied? If there is publication about the controversial side then it’s part of our culture, why should it be ignored? Plus I’d like to think students at our university are a little more critical than to accept what’s handed to them in class at face value…

Do you think he’ll scream about us in the papers now?

Good grief! Barrett isn’t presenting scientific “theory.” His bloviations aren’t even a working hypothesis. These “Truther” droolings are unsubstantiated conjectures at best, and pernicious nonsense at worst.

The Truthers don’t even follow simple rules of evidence. Even a 7th grade student should recognize his crapulence as total B.S. The fact that (presumably) “educated” students are willing to offer their (or worse yet, their parents’) hard-earned tuition to give these “views” an audience is a pathetic display of unfettered intellectual laziness in Wisconsin.

Kevin Barrett is NOT a professor. He’s a lecturer without any tenure.

And the 9/11 conspiracy BS is hardly limited to “liberal” or left-wing circles. Many people that believe these theories are hard-right fundementalist types. You know, the ones that hate the UN and love guns…

It makes me ill that the same university that is on the cutting edge of potentially life saving research is the same institution that pays Kevin Barrett for teaching his opinion as fact. The only thing that makes me happy is that I’m graduating in December and my hard earned money will no longer go towards his salary. Mr. Barrett, you make me embarrassed to be part of the UW, where now the professors are known for defending their ideas by resorting to elementary school tactics of name calling to defend themselves.

Building 7 fell straight down at free fall speed in a controlled demolition.

Here it is: www.st911.org

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and looks like a duck, its a duck.

WTC 7 had a twenty story hole in the front of the building, many feet deep from the debris of tower 1. Fires raged uncontrolled and unfought for over 5 hours, fueled by a pressurised deisel fuel line for a generator on the fifth floor. The truthers cherry pick quotes and pictures from different people because they support their theories. The fact is the only thing pulled from building seven were the firefighters performing search and rescue operations, becaue the building was compromised and in danger of collapse. The NYFD aready lost over 300 men and were in no position to lose anymore because of the danger posed by building 7. The truthers refuse to accept the facts because in their minds George Bush is incompetent and stupid, but if Bush is so stupid how is he able to pull off the greatest conspiricy of all times. You can’t have it both ways, truthers, either Bush is a moron, or he is the greatest criminal mind in history. Pick one and get on with your life.http://www.debunking911.com/

I am entirely disgusted by the juvenile conduct of Kevin Barret not only in his class, but also in this article. Demeaning students, no matter how poor their grammar, is wholly unacceptable. From someone who claims to be a professional in search of truth, I would expect more reputable arguments. Barret is a disgrace to the UW system and one of the numerous reasons that so many alums have begun to pull once-generous donations.

I hope that the comments on his article help him to learn of HIS disapproval rating both on this campus and otherwise.

—Sara Mikolajczak

The wtc7 only had 2 small office fires, the diesel fuel did not fuel any fires, it was very well supported as it was constructed over a con-ed substation. this building came down in 6.6 secs, the crimp in the building and the well spaced puffs of smoke are dead giveaways of a controlled demolition..The insults and attacks on this site with no science backing it up is pathetic. It is the so called ‘debunkers’ that do the cherry picking from what I can see. Popular Mechanics is a sham, when Dunforth appeared on the Charles Goyette show, he could not explain how the hell investigators got the intial dna that matched the hijackers, that they claimed was Id’ at the WTC, and how the hell could they even match anybodys dna, for anyone after that implosion, even family members have not been id’. There are no hijacker names on any flight manifests or coroner reports, I have seen them. Why has no one mentioned that the WTC was undergoing galvanic corrosion or that the asbestos had to be removed or that a study was done in 1980 to do a demolition on the towers at a cost of 5.6 bil, in 1980 dollars? No you attack this guy with absolutely no idea of what you are saying.Americans are ill informed, of course you can tell me every football score can’t you? Can you tell us about the missing $3 tril reported the day before [CBS 2002, DOD 2001]by rumsfeld, but no one seems to bring up the subject that got buried under the next days events. Or the fact the Penatgon was hit in the naval operations area that was investigating this, and that evidence and accountants went up in smoke. Of course none of you remember or paid attention when the news reports of flt 93 being shot down were aired, but then no one talked about it after. Did any of you check on the criminal activities related to AIG, WorldCom, Lava, Goldman Sachs, Kantor and Fitzgerald, silver stream that were going on in those buildings? How fortunate that the investigations that were housed in WTC 7 went up in smoke for someone. What are the odds of all these things happening in one day? Huh? 3 steel framed buildings all collapsing neatly in under 10 secs. each, the multitrillion dollar airforce being outwitted for nearly 2 hours in the most protected airspace on earth? How about the ongoing war games that day some involving live hijack exercises? No you people don’t check, you like to point fingers and call people crazy, so you can get some kind of twisted self satisfaction. Your ignorance and blindness are costing this country dearly. I am embarrassed by the morons who crticisize Mr. Barrett, hes trying to help what the hell are you doing?

I suspect most people have gotten used to gangs of “twoofers” barging in on messageboards furiously typing away bits of random facts and unrelated accusations. But it’s still annoying as hell!

It’s the internet equivalant of the kook down the street, who has a cardboardsign around his neck saying “the end of the world is near!”

Barrett used a bunch of polls that are controversal at best and then spun the illegitament polls to suit his viewpoints. I’m so glad taxpayers are paying this man’s salary to fill the youth of America’s minds with anti-war propaganda.

as a soldier, female, that has fought for this country and Mr. Barrett’s “rights” (minus his responsibility for the consequences of his actions) to say what he thinks I will express my right to speak, for which I have been fighting for over 20 years. Should Mr Barrett take off his rose-coloured glasses for a moment and bathe himself in the culture of Islam, to know exactly what one muslim says to another when they are not trying to impress a westerner with their hatred of everything we stand for, perhaps I would take his views seriously. In addition, to take issue with the linguistic abilities Mr. Carnes is a common method of trying to deflect attention away from the real issue at hand - the substance of his argument. If a person whose first language was not English were to discuss politics with you, would you pick apart his grammer or discuss the issue? The heart of the matter is this- people like Mr. Barrett are the real enemy of this country, a worm inside the apple, rotting it from the inside out. Mr Barrett, what is a Poll? the opinion of people. Since when did the opinion of Joe Schmoe on the street become the truth? Since American media has made it so. If I went to a high school and asked the students “Who has cool parents?” and most of the students said their parents are jerks and stupid, should we take this as a scientific truth? I have seen terrorism and muslim hatred with my own eyes, and I am still waiting for muslim leaders in the US to stand up and say that they do not support the violence of Islamic Extremists. Until, and if it ever happens, I will continue to support this country that gives me the freedom to air my views in public, by giving my service to the armed forces. May many more men and women like Mr. Barrett have the freedom to air their views, hopefully not to the detriment of the very freedoms they now enjoy .

There are many photos of WTC 7 which shows a huge hole in the building and the roof buckling hours before the collapse. Of course these photos are either never shown on CT sites or are said to be “fake”.

By cherry picking evidence and taking quotes and other things out of context you can link any thing together. There is even a site which (tounge in cheek) which shows trains brought down the WTC by taking quotes out of context.

Its really mind boggling to read the retorts of the ill informed, the ignorant non fact bashing posted herein. One nitwit, nit picks that polls have no meaning, maybe so, but what has that have to do with reported fact? Another says Prof. Barrett made his ‘facts’up, any fool who would make such a statement would at least check on these ‘made up facts’, as they are readily available from the reports of the mainstream media. Not one Barrett basher has addressed any of the anomalies,or ‘coincidences’ that some of the more informed posters have made. Bits of ‘random facts’? Are you a total moron or just someone who likes to attack people who might have a concern for what is happening in our world. These facts are hardly random. These factsw are reported reality, but so many of the people on this post are more like rabid attack dogs. And since you are so well educated on this and other subjects, what will you say when you find out you were wrong? Anyone can see what kinds of agendas the neocons have put forth. Their PNAC manifesto calls for a Pearl Harbor attack to implement this agenda. School is about paying attention in class and research, obviously a lot of you have failed at this.

I’m going to tear every one of his statistics apart.

First, he cites a 10/2003 al-Jazeera poll appearing to indicate that “89 percent of respondents believed that U.S. officials perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, while only 11 percent blamed al-Qaeda.” He also refers to a second poll - no citation is provided - indicating that “less than 20 percent of Muslims believe the official ‘Arab hijackers’ story.” Neither of these is unsurprising: at least 65 percent of Palestinians, for example, support al-Qaeda actions in the United States, according to a 12/2005 Israeli Insider poll. Additionally, the concept and imagery of "Arab hijackers" reproduced in United States media channels is demeaning and offensive. No wonder they believe we're scapegoating them.

Barrett appeals to the authority of “the most respected political author and commentator in the Arab world, former Egyptian foreign minister Mohammed Heikal” and the documentary The Power Of Nightmares to support his inference.

In a 10/2001 article in The Guardian (and elsewhere), Heikal asserts that bin Laden — or any set of individuals in the Islamic world, for example — would have been incapable of executing the attacks on the three World Trade Center towers because of increased "surveillance … by American intelligence, Pakistani intelligence, Saudi intelligence [and] Egyptian intelligence" over the span of, at the very least, the last decade-and-a-half. This is (apparently) supported by an 8/2001 United States government memoranda describing "patterns of suspicious activity consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York." This, of course, is a pretty useless warning — "hijackings or other types of attacks" covers everything, and the World Trade Center towers are not federal buildings. Either way, I don't see how this proves that the attacks were an "inside job," as Barrett infers.

Furthermore, Barrett mischaracterizes the core argument made in The Power of Nightmares. The documentary specifically states that bin Laden is the pivot point for a larger group of terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the three World Trade Center towers and possibly acts of terrorism elsewhere. It goes on to state that construing al-Qaeda as a vast (with agents in every country) or even coherent organization may be inappropriate (up until 2001 at least), but this is most certainly not the same thing as saying that it doesn’t exist at all. Journalist Peter Bergen, in a 6/2005 edition of The Nation, writes:

“By late 2001, bin Laden and the men around him had access to huge resources, both symbolic and material, which they could use to project their power and influence internationally - that sounds suspiciously like a coherent organization to me.”

Second, Barrett cites a 10/2006 New York Times poll appearing to indicate that “only 16 percent of the American people believe the official story, meaning that 84 percent do not.” What Barrett leaves out is that the poll consisted of 983 New York Times subscribers. The publication is distinctly left-biased and 983 is only a small fraction of its readership. It is an even smaller fraction of "the American people." Barrett refers to a poll by the The Toronto Star (also unrepresentative of "the American people") but provides no citation. Both of these are arguments by generalization.

Finally, Barrett cites an 8/2004 Zogby poll appearing to indicate that “half of New Yorkers believe … that top U.S. officials committed high treason and conspiracy to mass murder on 9/11.” First, in the same poll, only 28% of the same respondents knew that a third tower fell, an error that makes any of their other responses tenuous, at best. More importantly, however, this poll, which Barrett uses to anchor his entire argument, was funded by 911truth.org.

To read the entire piece from which this is excerpted, visit http://jerseysxonly.blogspot.com/

This has way to much logic in it to be right. We can’t be having logic being taught in our universities, logic isn’t what makes things right, you have to go from the gut. We need people who listen to what the news tells you to be teaching our courses, everyone knows the news is always right. (Please note the Sarcasm) Keep Up The Good Work Kevin